EUR/USD
Offered at 1.1173 (23.6% of 1.0517-1.1376)in Europe, the EUR/USD pair is now trading around 1.1160 and threatening to drop into losses ahead of US data release. US Personal spending and income growth is seen slowing in February. Upward revision of the US Q4 GDP released on Friday was largely due to personal consumption; hence USD bulls may feel demoralized if spending figure for February slows more than expected. Post personal spending release, investors would shift their focus to goods trade balance, new home sales and Dallas Fed manufacturing index. Action in oil prices and the resulting impact on the equities could also influence the demand for the funding currency EUR.

GBP/USD
GBP/USD posted sharp losses last week, dropping some 340 points. The pair closed the week at 1.4122. This week’s highlights are Current Account and Manufacturin PMI. The markets were treated to a flurry of hawkish comments from Fed officials last week, helping the dollar post huge gains against the pound. This leaves an April hike a real possibility and contrasts with the very dovish Fed policy statement. US Final GDP beat expectations with a gain of 1.4% in the four quarter. British Retail Sales posted a decline of 0.4%, but this was within expectations.